The present invention relates generally to tableted blends of bran and at least one waste-decomposing microorganism for use as a starter material for biomass generators.
Bacteria decompose organic materials in the environment in a natural process that typically degrades organic material into carbon dioxide and water. Under normal conditions, competition for resources, limited supplies of nutrients, and natural enemies can combine to inhibit rapid bacterial growth that in turn limits organic material decomposition. Bacteria proliferate rapidly when selected strains of bacteria are isolated and provided a growth-promoting food source. These larger bacterial populations decompose waste material more quickly and effectively and can be used in a wide variety of applications, such as, for example, in septic tanks, grease traps, drains, RV holding tanks, cesspools, lagoons, ponds, outdoor toilets, portable toilets and the like, which tend to collect waste present in various forms such as proteins, carbohydrates (such as cellulose), and lipids such as fats and oils.
Most conventional bacteria or biomass growth or generation devices, such as those disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,335,191 and other patents citing or cited in it, use a starter material comprising at least one selected beneficial bacterial strain and enough of a suitable bacteria food source to grow the bacteria from a starter population to a utility population that is large enough to sustain growth and promote a desired end use application when discharged from this device into a waste material or other media containing another viable food source. Conventional, commercially available sources of starter bacteria occur in liquid, powder or other solid form. Some starter bacteria are already combined with a starter nutrient and others require mixture with a separate starter nutrient, most often in an aqueous suspension.
Solid nutrient forms are preferred because they provide a bacteria starter population in a form that provides stable storage, easier handling, and low overall cost. However, solid nutrients may be friable, depending upon their components, and too readily disintegrate into powders that are easily inhaled, jam machine parts, or are messy to apply to septic systems, etc. Solid forms that are not friable when initially produced may subsequently become friable and deteriorate rapidly in humid environments. This is particularly the case with conventional solid nutrients incorporating bran, a desirable feed material. Other pelletized solid forms are too hard, which can adversely affect solubility or damage automated feeders or stirring devices.
Many methods of manufacturing and packaging bacteria are also difficult to use or compromise bacterial viability. For example, continuous milling or direct extrusion methods can involve temperatures that kill bacteria or compromise their viability, however, temperature-neutral methods can also kill or compromise bacteria where tablets are manufactured under pressures greater than bacteria can withstand. On the other hand, if pressures are too low, tablets will lack structural integrity.
Accordingly, a pelletized feed material is needed that does not require temperatures and pressures that adversely affect waste-decomposing bacterial viability and that provides a structurally stable and readily usable solid tablet form containing bran.